Recent protests by some public estate tenants to press the Housing Authority for more preferential terms to help them buy their rental units under its flat-sale scheme have come as something of a surprise.
To those private home owners who are struggling to pay monthly mortgage instalments and bills for management fees and property rates, these protests show the extent of the public tenants' ignorance of the responsibilities of being a property owner.
In Hong Kong, where the Government often talks about reasonable allocation of public resources to help those most in need, it is a puzzle why those already living in subsidised housing are given more and more assistance to help them fulfil their housing needs.
The Housing Authority launched the Tenant Purchase Scheme in January, putting on offer this year 26,800 of its rental units for tenants on six estates - namely Cheung On (Tsing Yi), Fung Tak (Wong Tai Sin), Wah Kwai (Aberdeen), Heng On (Ma On Shan), Wan Tau Tong (Tai Po), and Kin Sang (Tuen Mun).
The units, up to 13 years old, are being sold at only 12 per cent of their market prices, or up to about $250,000 each.
The Housing Authority has also promised to set up a maintenance fund and the money is estimated to be enough to cover general repair costs for 10 years.